


Frozen in Time

by Lizardbeth



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, First Cylon War, Gen, Pre-Canon, Series Spoilers, razor flashbacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 05:45:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4510089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizardbeth/pseuds/Lizardbeth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Husker finds something else in the Cylon base.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Frozen in Time

**Author's Note:**

> originally written as an AU to the "Razor" flashbacks of the First Cylon War. Also AU to Blood and Chrome, though I wrote this before that movie aired.
> 
> this is also more set up than story, but I thought it was interesting enough premise to archive anyway.

* * *

Cold wind blew across the ice field, stirring snow up in flurries, making it hard to see. But Will could see the Cylon installation nestled into the snow-covered hillside. He tried to report it on the wireless but got no response. The base was shelter and hopefully air, and if he was really lucky, he'd gain some valuable intel about what the Cylons were trying to protect so fiercely.

He expected the base to be crawling with toasters, but then found out why it wasn't. The ground trembled and he could hear the roar inside his helmet, as a basestar lifted off from the hillside and was soon gone from sight, abandoning the base.

But that still left structures to investigate. Skirting obvious fuel storage tanks, he went to the most human-looking of the buildings. Inside, there was air enough to remove his helmet, but also a horror show of human body parts, some melded with machine parts in strange, wrong ways. They were trying to make human/Cylon hybrids.

Deeper in, he found a connector tunnel which had to be going into the hillside. Bracing himself for something worse, he pulled his sidearm and headed down. At the end of the tunnel his footsteps faltered and he stared in amazement.

The tunnel opened up into a huge cavern, its roof and far wall somewhere lost in the shadows, even though there were light towers everywhere. The lights were all pointed at a ship below.

It was massive and like nothing Will had ever seen before - not Colonial and not Cylon. He needed to get closer.

The Cylons had built a ramp down to the stone floor and he followed it down, sidearm ready. It seemed they'd excavated the place from layers of ice, and he realized he was actually in a deep, roofed pit.

At the bottom level, the ship loomed above him, all arches and curves like something from under the sea. He moved closer, staring in awe and confusion. What had the Cylons found? Something from the Colonies' distant past?

There was a path he was on, marked by a sequence of lamp posts, leading to the ship, and it felt like approaching one of the large temples, rising higher and higher above him. But closer, he also saw that the ship had cracks and pits in the hull, scorch marks, and at least one section appeared to have been rebuilt, less smoothly than the original.

As if it had crashed here. But from where?

He licked his lips and kept going.

There was a hatch ahead of him in the ship - it didn't seem right, somehow, too square, not matching the graceful curves of the rest of the ship. He touched the edges - they were sharp. Cut. The Cylons had cut their way in.

He stepped over the threshold into the ship. It was cold inside, and strung with artificial lights through about fifty meters of hull until it reached an internal corridor. This one felt more natural, wide with archways, and smooth bulkheads and floors that seemed shiny in the dim light. The Cylons had cut into the bulkheads, and left random equipment piled around as if they'd tried to access the systems in several places but to no avail.

He didn't notice at first because of the Cylon lights, but then white lights came up in the ceiling and he realized the ship's lighting had been switching on for several steps. The ship was coming alive.

Tightening his grip on his sidearm, he kept going. There was no turning back now.

The lights brightened, and then he felt the touch of cool air brush his cheek and his sweat-damp face.

For lack of a better course, he continued to follow the Cylon light string, figuring they'd already found anything interesting in their investigations: a command center perhaps, weapons, jump drive, something…

He had to climb up an access way, twice, and another corridor much like the first, feeling a bit like a rat in a maze, but not afraid. The place was deserted, the Cylons were gone, and he was free to explore what they'd left behind.

The corridor finally ended in a large archway, and oddly he saw things to either side - dead flowers, gold pieces, artifacts from all over the Colonies, as if left here by the Cylons as some sort of… offering? Strange.

Feeling a little nervous he went through the entryway. He saw a collection of those same tubs he'd found in the lab outside, filled with the same milky substance. The first he approached wasn't empty, though - there was a person inside.

She had most of her body submerged, with only her face above the surface. She had a beautiful face, with strong features and long dark lashes on her cheeks, and she looked asleep. Were the tubs some sort of stasis pods?

"What is this place? Who are you?" He reached out a gloved hand to touch her, but a splash and a gasping sound filled the room.

Will snatched his hand back, and raised his sidearm, panic and training both kicking in to find the intruder.

One of the others was sitting up in the strange tub, breathing heavily. As Will watched, the man raised both hands to rub his face and dark hair, blowing out breaths to calm down. He blinked and rubbed at his eyes, still not noticing Will.

Then he let out another sigh, and finally seemed settled. "Oh gods. Never get used to that," he muttered. Shaking his head, he finally looked around as if expecting to see something, frowning at the extra lights and equipment.

He caught sight of Will, and his blue eyes widened in shock, as he shoved himself back and away in the tub, but there was nowhere to go. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing on my ship?"

"Your ship?" Will repeated, incredulous. "This is your ship?"

The guy looked around. "Looks like it. Except for the lights." Then he frowned. "That means people were in here while we were … asleep. And yet the ship only woke us now…" Then he eyed the gun and swallowed hard. "Are you going to shoot me? Please don't. I'm unarmed, and I've come in peace."

Will lowered the gun. "Sorry. Who are you?"

"My name is Sam Anders. Who are you? Is this Kobol?"

Kobol. Anders expected this place to be Kobol. How the hell long had he been asleep?

"My name is Will Adama. Lieutenant of the Colonial Fleet of the Twelve Colonies. But we're nowhere near Kobol. That was a, uh, thousand years ago since the exodus of the Twelve Tribes."

"A thousand years?" Sam repeated, shocked. "A thousand years? Oh. Oh, gods. The jump drive… we couldn't, we were supposed to be here sooner, but … oh, gods, I need to access the datastream and find out what happened. Wake the others… I need to-"

Will recognized the signs of overwhelming distress and incipient panic. "Hey," he said, loudly, to get Sam's attention. "I think you crashed," Will said. "Given the damage to the ship, you're lucky to wake up at all."

Sam nodded slowly, thinking, and calm reasserting itself. He ran hands over his wet, dark hair again and took a deep breath. "Yes, maybe I am. I need to check if the others will, too. Oh, gods," he repeated, glancing at the neighboring tubs.

Will took a deep breath. "Are you from Kobol?"

Sam tried to shake off his shock, and shook his head. "No. No, I'm from the Thirteenth Tribe. From Earth."

Will could not have been more astonished if one of the Lords himself had dropped down in front of him. "Earth? That's impossible! It's just a story."

Sam gave a little bitter chuckle. "It was real, but all that's left is a story. It's destroyed. That's why we came. The gods sent us messengers to warn you about creating life, about creating what you cannot control, and mistreating it --"

"The Cylons." Will interrupted. "You wanted to warn us against making the Cylons. You're too late, Sam. This is the tenth year of war against the Cylons. They were just here, they found this ship, they've been keeping you here I don't know how long, but they only left a few minutes ago."

Sam listened to this, getting more and more horrified, shaking his head and gripping the edge of the tub with both hands. "No," he whispered. "We can't be too late again… she said we'd have time…"

"You can probably still help us," Will ventured hesitantly. "If you're from Earth, they'll listen to you. Thirteenth Tribe, hell, you'll be famous."

After a moment, Sam's gaze met his again with new resolution. "Would you give me a hand? I don't think my legs are very strong yet."

"Sure. What are you going to do?" Will asked, coming nearer to the tub to extend his hand.

Sam took it in a firm grip and used it to stand up. He was, as Will had expected, naked and dripping with the fluid. From Earth or not, he looked human all the way to his feet, as he climbed over the rim. He was tall, taller than Will, and whatever he said about his legs not being strong, he stood up despite his very long sleep. "First, I wake up my family." Shivering as his bare feet hit the floor, Sam added wryly, "Actually, no. Clothes first. It's frakking cold in here. Then, I do what we came here to do and end this war." His gaze flickered with sorrow and he clenched his jaw, before speaking again. "I've seen how this story ends, William Adama. I can't let it happen again."

Will nodded. "So say we all."

 

end.


End file.
